Island Time

Quirky Key West marches to the beat of its own drum

By Ramona Flume

Published: February 25, 2014

Photo from Shutterstock

The Florida Keys are wonderfully strange. The scenery is idyllic, the mood is carefree and the locals are an eccentric mix of artists, entrepreneurs and conservationists who have joyfully disconnected from the mainland way of life.

In 1982, residents of the Keys, a coral cay archipelago consisting of roughly 1,700 islands, proposed to secede from the Sunshine State to protest an intrusive federal roadblock at the Keys’ only point of entry. The tongue-in-cheek threat gave birth to what’s now known as the Conch Republic, a sovereign “micronation” that still serves to protect the area’s natural beauty and “keep it weird” philosophy.

As an Austin resident, I felt a kinship with the destination, made up of individualists who reject the conventional to preserve what they love so fiercely—a mañana-paced life of leisure. And there’s no place more proud to fly its freak flag than Key West. Sure, it’s a nightlife mecca, known for drag shows and clothing-optional street festivals, but the city, along with the rest of the Keys, attracts all kinds of wayfarers, from artists to wildlife activists.

Ernest Hemingway, Key West’s most famous reveler-in-residence, occupied a Spanish colonial home on Whitehead Street from 1928 to 1939. These days, The Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum is known for being home to more than 40 polydactyl, or six-toed, cats, some of which are descendants of Hemingway’s beloved six-toed cat, Snowball. While the Pulitzer Prize–winning iconoclast completed works like A Farewell to Arms in this domicile, he was a man known for his captivating companions. His beloved Key West “mob” would while away nights at Sloppy Joe’s, organizing boxing matches and illicit cockfights. The historic bar has moved its location down the street, but it still continues to thrive.

Today, locals prefer to protect native wildlife. Key West itself is part of a national wildlife refuge created in 1908 to safeguard hundreds of native birds, including the wild chickens that still cross main thoroughfares with impunity. Other native species, like the endangered key deer, enjoy protected habitats throughout the Lower Keys. And tourists love to seek out the adorably small creatures at dawn and dusk when they’re most active on Big Pine.

Another popular pit stop is feeding tarpon, a local game fish, at visitor-friendly pier Robbie’s of Islamorada, where the silvery behemoths leap hungrily out of the water for any dangling bait. There’s even more underwater action at destinations like Grassy Key’s Dolphin Research Center or the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo. Swim with dolphins, snorkel above the only living coral reef in the U.S. or simply enjoy a glass-bottom boat tour. Freedom of choice—it’s the Conch Republic way.